Action urgently needed says Milltown resident

THE Department for Infrastructure is “wasting time” creating “excuses”and ignoring the need for traffic calming measures in Milltown, a member of the Milltown Area Community Association has claimed.

For over two years the Association has been calling for the implementation of a pedestrian crossing near the roundabout at Brooke Street and the installation of speed bumps on Wellington Road/Brooke Street.

In an email to the department calling for a review of both measures, local man David Corbett told the Department the road is a residential area and claimed cars regularly reach speeds of 60mph in the area.

“We the residents will not wait until a major accident occurs or a life is taken...and your caviler attitude towards the safety of the occupants of the road is a disgrace,” stated Mr Corbett’s email to the Department.

In response to this email, a spokesperson for the Department replied: “I assure you that Dfi Roads take road safety very seriously.

“When assessing any scheme for a Pedestrian crossing or traffic calming, we follow guidelines as set out in our Policy and Procedure guidelines.

“For information, I have included results from the traffic counter which was put down in December 2016. The results from this counter do not indicate an issue with speeding (average speed per day ranging from 26.2mph to 27.5mph.”

Speaking to the Tyrone Courier upon receipt of this response, David said he has lost all faith in the Department but will not be deterred.

“They have offered to do another survey, but they have promised that before and have not followed up on their promise,” he claimed.

“It is, I think, just a case of wasting time hoping I will eventually give up; a strategy that has been successful before but won’t be this time round.

“As for the ramps, the Department claims the road is an Arterial A road and major feeder route which is not suitable for traffic calming, but I think they are just trying a different tactic as their previous reason for not implementing the speed ramps was a lack of financial resources, which no longer holds water.

“In layman’s terms they are time wasting and I and many of the resident's in Milltown are less than impressed.

“This area has witnessed a number of accidents in which pedestrians have been knocked down.

“It is about time the Department for Infrastructure ceased with excuses and did something positive before someone is seriously hurt, or worse.”